Report: Los Angeles May Be Looking To Trade One Crucial Piece Of Their Young Core

The 16-time NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers are in the middle of one of their worst periods success-wise in their long, rich history, missing the playoffs for a record 4th consecutive time last season.

The Lakers have committed 100% to a rebuild in L.A. after their 2012-13 season was a complete failure, and are slowly but surely returning to prominence in the Western Conference after drafting Lonzo Ball this year, with plans to add All-Star talent to the roster next offseason during free agency.

With that plan in mind, the Lakers may have to do some wheeling and dealing in the near future, as their current roster could be commanding a lot of L.A.’s cap space in the coming years.

Recent reports state that Los Angeles could be open to moving young power forward Julius Randle to make their cap situation a bit more flexible come free agency period.

“The Lakers will not be doing an extension for Julius Randle. In fact, there is a better than average chance Randle is traded at some point as a means to open up cap space for the Lakers big push into the 2018 free agent class.

“Randle has emerged as a very interesting young player and frankly might be one of the Lakers best non-core trade chips.”

Magic Johnson has seemed to go all-in on Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball, and Jordan Clarkson is a valuable asset to the Laker’s bench squad, leaving Julius Randle the odd man out.

About the author

Brad Stevenson is Fadeaway World's Chief Content Editor. Brad is 19 years old and is currently studying Information Technology at Monash University in Australia. Joining the Fadeaway World team early on in 2016, Brad has covered every NBA topic imaginable in his two years with Fadeaway World. He's also a rabid Laker fan and isn't afraid to share his opinions when it comes to the Purple and Gold. You can follow Brad on Twitter @BradStevensonFW.